How to Enable, Find and Install Userscripts on Chrome

byStamgaonApril 15, 2009

Userscripts, also known as Greasemonkey scripts, are small JavaScript files that give you the ability to change how web pages look and behave while browsing. In example, you could get a script that blocks ads or that allows you to download shared online videos..

Enabling Userscripts

In the Target box, add ” –enable-user-scripts” after the target. After doing this step, it should look a little like this: “C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe –enable-user-scripts”

Note: Make sure there is a space between “chrome.exe” and “–enable-user-scripts”

Note 2: If you are using XP, make sur that –enable-user-scripts is outside the directory’s quotes.

Installing Userscripts

If you are using Windows XP, go to C:\Documents and Settings\*USER*\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

If you are using Windows Vista or 7, go to C:\Users\*USER*\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

Note: Replace *USER* by your username.

Create a new folder in this directory named “User Scripts”, if it isn’t already there

Grab any userscript (.user.js) file and place it in this folder

If you have any trouble installing, enabling or finding userscripts, just leave a comment here. Not all userscripts work on Google Chrome, but alot of them do. Have fun!

Hi there.
I’ve made every step on that list and I have both Google scripts on my User Scripts folder, but I go to Google or Google Images and see nothing new. According to the images @ userscripts.org it was supposed to add some features… =/

What have I done wrong?

I’ve noticed that the first “-” on the expression “-enable-user-scripts” is different than the rest (it’s bigger), but if I use that, my homepage will be “http://xn--enable-user-scripts-475k/”.

One other thing, I’ve successfully managed to change themes, so I believe I’m on the Dev channel.

Verify if you are on the Dev version:
1(Wrench Menu) > About Google Chrome
2 Make sure the version you have is “2.0.174.0”
3 If it isn’t, use the Chrome Channel Changer: http://chromium.googlecode.com/files/chromechannel-2.0.exe to change your channel to Dev
4 Update Chrome by going to (Wrench Menu) > About Google Chrome and clicking “Update now”

Ok, I must be stupid or something…
I am on the Dev-channel, running 2.0.174.0 and User-Scripts seems to work (I am succesfully running AdSweep) but I cannot get thet Google FX script to work??????
Am I doing something terribly wrong???
Should I enable something in the js-file or something?

It seems that some userscripts like Google FX or Google Image search advanced don’t work on version 2.0.174.0. (but they did on the previous versions) Try some other ones on Userscripts.org, they should work…

I can’t believe how difficult this process has been made. It’s bad enough that you’re asking us to, personally, stuff every user script in a seven-directory deep location (on top of Chrome constantly resetting the download folder to someplace nobody ever wants to download to), but on top of that there’s really no clear way to tell if /anything/ is working like it’s supposed to. For example – I still don’t even know if I have Greasemonkey running! It doesn’t do me a lot of good trying to troubleshoot when I’m eliciting no response whatsoever from the program at any step along the way. I don’t know where what is breaking. So I’m going to go ahead and bang this with a, “I don’t give a damn if this is in the development stages, because if this is the way you develop, you’re doing it wrong in the first place anyway.” Thank you for having ruined my beautiful, sunny day before I even got out of the house.

Hello, I’m stuck on the “enable-user-scripts” part. I get the following message: Problem with Shortcut. The name “C:blahalaalha” specified in the target box is not valid. make sure the path and the file name are correct. I am running Windows XP and I typed (not cut and pasted) the ‘enable-user-scripts part in. Help please!

BTW. Why would Google make this so hard? In Firefox, you click Install, hit reboot and VOILA. Please don’t tell me that the folks at Mozilla can even come close the the brain power of Google.

I solved the problem of “http://xn--enable-user-scripts-475k/” by just adding one more “- ” before “–enable-user-scripts”.
I am sure that I am on Dev channel. I am succesfully running AdSweep. However, other user scripts, such as Google FX, seems do not work.
I am not using version 2.0.174.0.
I am using Chromium 2.0.167.0 (10336). I mean it’s a previous versions, isn’t it?

Its complicated to install because Chrome’s extensions and userscripts are still in the testing levels where only advanced developers are supposed to be testing them before they officially come out on Chrome.

Once they are, I am sure that there will be an extension manager where you can just click a button to Install or Uninstall an extension

@Ben & Chris Hall: As Dexter said, you must use two ‘-‘s in front of ‘enable-user-scripts’

I am on Windows XP and I have:
1. Updated to the latest Dev release of chrome in the About box after using the channel changer to identify that I wanted the Dev version.
2. Stored the script ‘youtube.user.js’ in ‘C:\Documents and Settings\ppianta\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\User Scripts’ which is a folder that I created.
3. Edited my Chrome shortcut on my desktop so the ‘Target’ field now contains “C:\Documents and Settings\ppianta\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” –enable-user-scripts (note there are two dashes before the word ‘enable’)
4. Restarted Chrome and went to youtube.com and loaded up a video – I don’t see links to download the video.

Just to recap.
If you are getting the “http://xn--enable-user-scripts-475k/” error when you start chrome; you need to type two dashes before the word enable in your shortcut, and make sure that you don’t put it inside the quotes if you are on XP.
If you are having trouble with GoogleFX or AdvancedImageSearch, these don’t work very well for Chrome. Try some other plugins.

Yay! I finally got it to work!!!
I used:
C:\Users\*user*\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe –enable-user-scripts
^^two dashes
At the install, I clicked on it and it showed the page with the scripting. On the page, I right clicked and pressed “save as” and renamed it to “youtube.user.js” and placed it in the folder. It works great now!
Thank you!

I can’t seem to find where the ‘C:\Documents and Settings\*USER*\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default’ file is! I’ve found ‘Documents and Setting’ but no Local Settings! Am I doing something wrong? And I think I’m on the dev channel with version 3.0.183.1 but not sure. Please help!

Excellent post! I just started using Chrome the other day because I needed a third browser and IE 8 has set a new bar for FAIL. Looking forward to trying out the other scripts you mention…Google Image Search Advanced has been awesome.

few questions:
1. do i need to change :better_gmail__for_chrome-folders4gmail.user to : better_gmail__for_chrome-folders4gmail.user_NAME ? so it will be the same user name that uses the app?
2. how do i know if it is running scripts or not? im running vista and the shortcut looks like: “C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” –enable-user-scripts
this is the only one i got to work…

Got it to accept the –enable-user-scripts in XP had to have it outside the quotation mark and a space after that and type it in not copy and paste as I was trying to do and it wouldn’t take it that way now to see if I can get pbtweets to work.

im surprised that chrome is giving me so much trouble when firefox has it all done….
i’ve been trying to switch over to chrome since firefox… but the scripts i used b4 on firefox don’t work on it. 🙁
chrome needs a standard place to download scripts… i can’t find any.

An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague who had been conducting a little research on this. And he in fact bought me dinner due to the fact that I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending time to discuss this matter here on your blog.

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